Troy A. Edwards Jr., the son-in-law of James Comey, stepped down as the Justice Department’s (DOJ) senior national security prosecutor Thursday after the former FBI director was indicted by a federal grand jury.
“To uphold my oath to the Constitution and country, I hereby resign as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in the Department of Justice effective immediately,” Edwards wrote to Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. attorney in Virginia’s Eastern District, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by multiple news outlets.
Edwards worked in the same U.S. attorney’s office that brought the two-count indictment against Comey, a longtime critic of President Trump. Edwards was the deputy chief of the national security section, a role that encompasses covering the CIA and the Defense Department.
Comey was indicted on two charges: making a false statement, and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The allegations stem from his 2020 testimony about the 2016 probes into then-candidate Trump and potential Russian election interference. The indictment came after the president called for the prosecution of his perceived political enemies.
Trump welcomed the indictment, while Comey expressed his innocence and proclaimed he is not “afraid.”
Edwards was part of a team of prosecutors who convicted Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder, of scheming a plot to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The president later issued a pardon to Rhodes, other riot leaders and most of those involved in the insurrection.
The ex-FBI chief allegedly obstructed Congress by lying to a Senate committee.
“Comey stated that he did not authorize someone at the FBI to be an anonymous source. According to the indictment that statement was false,” the DOJ said in the indictment.
Democrats rebuked the indictment, alleging the criminal justice system was “weaponized.” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday night that there is “very little chance” that Comey will ever be convicted.
Edwards’s resignation comes just months after the department fired Maurene Comey, the ex-FBI chief’s daughter, as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. She is contesting her July dismissal, saying it came without notice, cause, and opportunity to contest.